Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP for Croydon South, has reacted with
dismay to the recently published Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
report on the Crown Prosecution Service in London. The Inspectorate came
into effect on 1 October 2000 and this is their first report.
Mr Ottaway says:
"This is a damning indictment of the Crown Prosecution Service
in London. It includes the Croydon branch, which is no different from
any of the other branches in London.
"While the report acknowledges that London has a higher proportion
of more difficult cases than any of other CPS areas, it is clear that
justice is not being served in many cases that the CPS deals with.
"Most of the problems seem to stem from poor management, and a
lack of leadership. This means that training is inadequate, performance
is poor, proper procedures are routinely ignored and the monitoring
of the standards of the CPS work within each branch is almost entirely
absent.
"The consequence is that many cases scheduled for trial or committal
to the Crown Court collapse. Offenders go unpunished and all the work
put in by other agencies in the criminal justice system, such as Police,
Courts staff and Probation officers, is wasted. Court time is taken
up with these cases and other cases have to wait months to get a date
in court. The waiting time for victims and defendants, before a case
comes to court, continues to be unacceptable.
"CPS London is far from achieving its vision of being a prosecuting
authority of stature providing the best possible service to society".
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